Bernhard Hassenstein (31 May 1922 – 16 April 2016) was a German

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and psychobiologist.

Life and work

Bernhard Hassenstein was a student of behavioral physiologist Erich von Holst and one of the leading researchers in the fields of behavioral biology and bio-cybernetics. His scientific work includes substantial contributions to the understanding of motion perception in

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

and

color vision Color vision, a feature of visual perception, is an ability to perceive differences between light composed of different frequencies independently of light intensity. Color perception is a part of the larger visual system and is mediated by a co ...

in humans. From 1939 to 1949, Hassenstein studied biology, physics, and chemistry in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. During his military service in 1943, he met Werner E. Reichardt, who eventually became his academic partner. In 1948, he worked as an assistant at the

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial con ...

Institute for

Marine Biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

. From 1954-1958, he worked at the Zoophysiological Institute of the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. In 1958, Hassenstein worked with

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Werner Reichardt and engineer Hans Wenking to found the world's first working group on cybernetics at the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen. In 1960, he was appointed Professor of Zoology at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

. Hassenstein retired in 1984. He reportedly died on 16 April 2016 in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, at the age of 93.

Memberships

* Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, since 1961 *

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

, since 1965 * Wissenschaftsrat, from 1968 to 1972

Honors

* German Society of Pediatrics - Honorary Member (1975) * Max Born Medal for Responsibility in Science (1981) * Charles Küpfmüller ring the Technical University of Darmstadt (1981) * Dr Albert Wander Prize for migrant AG in Bern (1984) * Cothenius Medal of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (1993) * Exhibit "Brace Globe and Correlation Analysis" (with Werner Reichardt) in the Deutsches Museum Bonn (with Werner Reichardt) (1995) * Honorary Prize of Culture Award ( Reinhold Schneider Prize) of the city of Freiburg (with Helma Hassenstein) (2002)

Main Areas of Research

* Biological Cybernetics * Sensory and nerve physiology * Behavioral biology of the Child * Natural theory of concepts

Writings (selection)

* Goethe's morphology as self-critical science and current validity of their results. Weimar: Böhlau, 1950. * Principles of comparative anatomy in Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Cuvier and Goethe 1958th * How insects see movements? ''Naturwissenschaften'' 7, 207–214. Science 7, 207–214. 1961. 1961st * "Cybernetics and biological research", in Gessner F: "Handbook of Biology, Part I", Frankfurt am Main. Akad. Verl.Ges. Akad Verl.Ges. Athenaion, 1966. * Modeling for data processing in color vision. ''Kybernetik'' 4, 209–223, 1968 Cybernetics 4, 209-223, 1968 * Political behavior as a problem of biological anthropology. Bad Godesberg: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 1968. * Young animal and human being in view of comparative ethology. Stuttgart: Gentner, 1970. * Information and control in the living organism: An elementary introduction. London: Chapman Hall, 1971. * "Homoiostasis and coordination," "Rules of the central services" and "behavior", in Czihak G., H. Langer and H. Ziegler: "Biology - A Textbook", Heidelberg, Berlin. 1976. 1976th * Biological Cybernetics: an elementary introduction. 5. Ed - Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1977. * The child in preschool and primary school / contributions by Bernhard Hassenstein; Heinelt Gottfried, Christa Meves. - 7 Freiburg: Herder, 1978. * Freiburg lectures on the biology of man. Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1979. * Instinct, learning, playing, insight in behavioral biology. Munich: Piper, 1980.

References

External links

Homepage von Bernhard Hassenstein (mit Online-Artikeln)
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